Igor Holanda
Fourth-year in the Committee on Jewish Studies
Your academic background:
My undergrad degree is from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I came to
UofC right after finishing my BA. I had an independent major in medieval Jewish
studies.
How you came to your current studies:
As an undergrad I was interested in philosophy, Jewish studies and Medieval
Studies, so I decided to bring the three together and concentrate on medieval
Jewish thought. I looked for faculty that I wanted to work with in different
graduate schools, and at the time Joel Kraemer was teaching here, so I applied.
My interests have more or less remained the same since I came to UofC, but I've
explored some new areas also.
Your field/advisor:
My intended field is medieval Jewish philosophy. Since this heading can include
many things, here are some of the issues I am interested in: language and
hermeneutics, the popularization of and attitudes to philosophical doctrines,
Jewish-Christian intellectual exchanges, knowledge of and love of God in
medieval thought. My focus period is late-medieval and some early modern, in
Western Europe. I work primarily with James Robinson, but I have worked with
Josef Stern and Itzhak Melamed as well.
Lectures, papers, or classes you have presented:
I presented a paper on Maimonides at an undergraduate conference--seems like
so long ago! and I have served as a teaching assistant here at Chicago in a
survey course on medieval Jewish intellectual history. I've presented a couple of
papers at workshops as well.
Future goals:
Pass my exams, which I am taking in May...and then work on a dissertation
proposal, which will probably deal with philosophical language, or Jewish-
Christian exchange of ideas.
Personal interests:
Academically, I'm getting acquainted more and more with political science, since
my partner is in political science (which leads to some interesting debates
between the medieval and the modern). I love to cook, and I do it a lot; I drink
lots of tea and enjoy trying different ones. I also listen to lots of music, mostly
baroque but also Portuguese (fado) and Brazilian.